William c



(No Model.)

W. .0, FOX. DBTAOHABLE THILL COUPLING.

No. 590.099. Patented Sept, 14,1897.

Unrrn \VlLLlAM 0. FOX, OF FRONT ROYAL, VIRGINIA.

DETACHABLE THlLL-COUPLING.

SPECIQ'FICATION forming part or Letters Patent No. 590,099, dated. September 14,1897.

Application filed June 5, 1897. erial No; 639,294. (No model.)

To all whom, may concern.-

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM 0. FOX, of Front Royal, in the county of \Varren and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Detachable ThiILCOuplings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which'it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in detachable thill-couplings; and it consists in providing a supporting-lever constructed at one end to engage the under side of the thill and provided with a handle at its opposite and outer end by meansof which it can be turned to permit the thill to be either detachedor attached,all of which will be fully described hereinafter and particularly pointed out in 'the claims. V The object of my invention is to facilitate the detachment and attachment of shafts to vehicles of all kinds and avoid the necessity of removing nuts and bolts, as in the ordinary thilleoupling. This result is accomplished in my device by a single mechanical element in the form of a lever pivoted at its lower end below the pivotal point of the thill, the inner end of the lever being so shaped that when its outer handle end is up the thill will be,

looked upon its pivotal pin, but when the handle of the lever is turned down it will permit the attachment and detachment of. the thill. By means of this simple construction the operator places the foot upon the outer end of the lever and depresses it and with the hands places the thill in position, when the lever is released and carried to its lockin g position by means of a spring, thus making the locking action automatic and so simple that a child can use it.

, In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is aperspective view of a thill-coupling embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the same, the lever being shownin solid lines in its locking position and in its releasing or unlocking position in dotted lines. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detached perspective view of the locking-lever. Referring now to the drawings, A indicates and holds it in position.

the, usual clip, which passes aroundl and is secured to the axle in the usual or any other desired manner. Projecting forward and at the front side of the clip are the usual parallel cars a, between which the thills B are supported. Spanning the upper portion of the space between and supported by the cars is a pivotal pin or bolt 0, which. has its ends riveted and sweat into openings in said ears, thus doing away with any nutswhich are liable to become loose. The thill-irons B have the upper sides of their upper ends provided with transverse slots b sufficiently large to permit the thill to be placed upon and removed from its pivotal bolt, as will be readily seen from the drawings, thus forming hooked ends. The ends are made only slightly hooked, so that the shafts will need to be turned upward only slightly to permit the thills to fall from their pivotal points, but yet sufficiently hooked to hold the shafts in position (should the locking-lever D be turned down in any manner) owing to the pull of the animal upon the shafts. This supporting lever D is pivotallysupported upon a rod or pin 0, which passes through the lower portions of the ears of the clip and is riveted and sweat into position to prevent the use of nuts, which are liable to become loose. As shown clearly in Fig. 3, this lever is essentially J-shaped in form and has the pivotal opening at its apex, the short and inner end d of the lever ,having a laterally-projecting locking portione, which when the leveris up, as shown in Fig. 1, engages the under side of the thill A spring Gr surroundsthe pivotal pin of the lever and is situatedbelow the laterally-projecting locking portion of the lever, one end engaging said laterally-extending portion and the other end is passed into an openingf of one of the ears. In this manner the coil-spring exerts a tension against the lever and holds its locking portion in engagement with the under side of the thill.

As shown in solid lines in Fig. 2, the lever is in its locking position and its locking portion is shown engaging the thill, so that it cannot fall out. \Vhen it is desired to detach the thill for removing the shafts, the operator places his foot upon the projecting handle or operating end of the lever and depresses it into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig.

- 2, so that the thill will drop down and can be removed. In placing the thill into position the shafts are taken in the hands of the operator and the locking-lever of one thill is depressed by the foot, and the thill is then readily placed in position therein. The releasing of the lever supports the thill automatically through the medium of its spring, as will be readily understood.- One thill of the shafts being in position the other is placed in posi tion in the same way.

Attention is directed to the relative position of the pivotal pins or supports of the lever and thill, whereby one is about in a vertical line above the other. The advantage of this is that the downward pressure caused by the Weight of the thill or otherwise does not tend to turn the lever on its pivot, which is very desirable and makes the locking action much safer. It will also be noticed that the upper face of the locking portion is formed on a curve eccentric to the pivotal point of the lever, so that as the lever moves to locking position it gradually tightens upon the under side of the thill until the thill is firmly held in its proper position Without any movement whatever. The lever in addition to looking the thill in position also serves as an antirattler.

By means of a coupling as above described the shaft can be easily and quickly attached or detached and without the usual troublesome manipulation of nuts and bolts, and by its construction there are no nuts or bolts to become loose, making an absolutely safe attachment, as well as a convenient one.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patcut, is

1. Adetachable thill-coupling comprisinga thill pivotal bolt, a thill detachable therefrom by a downward movement, and a supportinglever situated below the thill, and having a supporting-surface engaging the thill practically in a vertical line below the thill and movable independently thereof, and an operatin garm, substantially as described.

2. Adetachablethill-couplingcomprisinga thill having an upwardly-opening eye, a draftbolt therefor, and a support-inglcvcr intermediately'pivoted practically in a vertical line below and movable independently of the thill, one end of the lever having a supporting-surface engaging the under side of the thill and the other end an operating-arm, substantially as described.

A detachable thill-coupling comprising a thill-bolt, a thill removable therefrom by a downward movement, a bell-crank-shaped lever pivotally supported in practically a vertical line below and movable independently of the thill, the upper and inner end of the lever having a supporting-surface engaging the under side of the thill, and the other end of the lever projecting outward and forming an operating-handle, substantially as described.

4. A thillcoupling comprisingathill-bolt, a thill having an upwardly-opening eye and removable from the bolt by a downward movement, a lever supported practically in a vertical line below the thill and having an upw ardly-projecting eccentric supporting-surface at its inner end engaging the under side of the thill supporting it and movable independently thereof, and a spring for normally holding the supporting-surface in engagement with the thill, substantially as described.

5. Adetachable thill-conpling,comprisinga thill having an open hook, a pivotal support therefor, a supporting-lever intermediately pivotally supported below said thill, the lever being essentially of a bell-crank shape, the outer end serving as an operating-handle, and a laterally-projecting eccentricallyformed locking-surface at the inner end of the lever, and a coil-spring surrounding the lever-pivot, one end of the spring engaging the lever and the other connected to the ears of the clip, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM 0. FOX.

\Vitn esses:

HENRY L. 0001;, M. O. RICHARDSON. 

